I don't think they will find out the gender of the baby before it is born, solely because it would create the opportunity for the information to leak out. If they and her doctors don't know, then nobody else will either. IMO that is the best way for them to proceed to safeguard their privacy. They would also know that any speculation in the media is just that, speculation.

I've seen this question asked (somewhere) on the forum, but I didn't see the answer.

Is there any estimate on when the British parliament will pass the new bill on gender equality (I know it's retroactive, so that's cool), or any estimate about how long it will take to get through all the other nations?

What happens if it simply doesn't get approved by the other nations?

David Cameron has been saying that as soon as all the realms agreed to the change at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Australia last year, it took affect there and then. He seems to be suggesting that the legislation is a mere formality. I don't think it's really as simple as Cameron is suggesting and I'd predict that there will be a rush to ensure legislation will be passed before the birth of the Cambridge baby.

If any of the realms object to the amendments of the rules of succession, things will stay as they are, as the agreement of all 16 of HM's realms is necessary to make any such change.

I believe that it's New Zealand who have been given the task of driving this process, so I would presume they'll update us all in due in course.

I don't think they will find out the gender of the baby before it is born, solely because it would create the opportunity for the information to leak out. If they and her doctors don't know, then nobody else will either. IMO that is the best way for them to proceed to safeguard their privacy. They would also know that any speculation in the media is just that, speculation.

during scans the doctors will know the gender of the baby. for example, when Princess Letizia of Spain was pregnant for the first time, only Letizia and her doctor knew she was having a girl. Felipe didn't know The doctors will see the baby's gender and I think William and Kate would love to know it

I don't think they will find out the gender of the baby before it is born, solely because it would create the opportunity for the information to leak out. If they and her doctors don't know, then nobody else will either. IMO that is the best way for them to proceed to safeguard their privacy. They would also know that any speculation in the media is just that, speculation.

Not sure what the ultrasound schedule is like in the UK, but presuming they get at least one later on in the pregnancy then someone's going to know, even if William and Kate choose not to find out. Here's hoping confidentiality rules the day, as it would certainly suck to find out the sex of your first child via The Daily Mail.

Is there any estimate on when the British parliament will pass the new bill on gender equality (I know it's retroactive, so that's cool), or any estimate about how long it will take to get through all the other nations?

There isn't really a set timetable as of now. Only three countries - Canada, Australia and New Zealand - have announced approximate time when the changes are to be ratified: some time in 2013.

A rather complex coordinated work should be done in all of the realms so that the changes are ratified (by whatever means that particular realms requires a ratification) at about the same time, to avoid any surprises. As far as Britain goes, the process is fairly straightforward and shouldn't take long at all - weeks or even days. However, some other countries of the Realm will require much more complex ratification processes that can take months. For instance, section 41 of the Canadian Constitution required unanimous consent of all the provinces and the federal parliament to ratify any changes to the office of the Monarch.

As per prior agreement, the United Kingdom will be the first to draft legislation, which will only be introduced once all the other Realms fully agree to all the terms of the bill. The process of adopting the legislation will start only once the other Realms plan the ratification processes, so that everything is in sync. On December 2 of the this year, the British Government received final consent from the other Commonwealth Realms. Two days ago, on December 13, the British Government finally introduced the Succession to the Crown Bill and it was announced that the House of Commons will address it as soon as parliamentary time allows, which should be in early 2013.

I should also add that two of the realms - Papua New Guinea and Tuvalu - do not need to approve the changes at all, so only 14 of the 16 realms will go through some sort of a ratification process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Themiste

What happens if it simply doesn't get approved by the other nations?

All the leaders of the Commonwealth Realms have already voiced their support for the proposed changes. However, should one of them refuse or be unable to ratify them, then it is likely one of the following will happen:

- The proposed changes will be dropped in all of the Realms altogether and Male Primogeniture along with ban to marry Catholics will remain in force.

- The other Realms will go ahead with ratification, creating a rather unfortunate situation. Should one day the first-born child of the Heir Apparent (say, Prince William) be a girl, then she will be Heiress Apparent in those Realms that approved the changes, but only an Heiress Presumptive in the realm that did not. That would mean that should the girl have a younger brother, he will become an Heir Apparent in that one realm, thus effectively ending the Union of Crowns of the Commonwealth Realms. When they say all Commonwealth Realms have to unanimously adopt the changes, they just mean that otherwise the consequences will be so unfortunate that, should a unanimous consent not be acquired, the proposed changes will be dropped altogether.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Themiste

Is there a thread with more history of letters patent and how they used to work? Queen Elizabeth can't simply issue letters patent and have parliament ratify them, right?

Letters Patent are one of the prerogatives of the Sovereign that do not require the consent of the Parliament. In most cases, however, the Monarch will usually consult the Prime Minister before issuing them.

Letters Patent greatly vary; there are currently over 90 types of Letters Patent, ranging from the ones used to grant Royal Assent to legislations and granting a coat of arms, to the ones that create Peerage titles or government offices. Consequently, how an individual Letters Patent works depends on what it is for.

during scans the doctors will know the gender of the baby. for example, when Princess Letizia of Spain was pregnant for the first time, only Letizia and her doctor knew she was having a girl. Felipe didn't know The doctors will see the baby's gender and I think William and Kate would love to know it

Well, when we had our 20 week ultrasound (standard time for one in the US) the technician had to make a pointed effort to find the gender because we wanted to know. If we hadn't asked, she would have just done the standard look around at vital organs. That's not to say that while looking around, you don't accidentally see something else, but it seemed to me that if you don't want to know then they will try not to find it either. Most of the time we had no idea what we were looking at unless the technician told us. Can you imagine the curiosity of the Kate's ultrasound tech, though? Kate and William are traditionalists, so I suspect they will wait to find out, which they may mention after the birth. I'm just looking forward to the due date announcement right now!

Interesting that Tanna knew abut the pregnancy but the RF didn´t. It is always been very strange how this journalist has so much information on the Middletons, like Kate plying tennis on Christmas, as if someone were leaking info all the time. And he always knows beforehand where Pippa is going to be. Really classy.

Very interesting also that William seems to have little communication with his blood family to the point of not informing his father and the Queen that a heir was in the way. I wonder if the palace had handled the pregnancy from the beginning, so many "problems" would have been avoided.

Very interesting also that William seems to have little communication with his blood family to the point of not informing his father and the Queen that a heir was in the way. I wonder if the palace had handled the pregnancy from the beginning, so many "problems" would have been avoided.

What problems were there? It's not like telling Charles would have cured Catherine of her morning sickness which is the only real problem.
And my sister never told her family she was pregnant, until she was 20 weeks, simply to be on the safe side. Catherine was less than 12 weeks when she was admitted, she could have found out weeks before or just a day before.
What's still interesting is your ability to stir, when it's never necessary.

I thought I had rosana on my ignore list? Hmm that's weird. Anyway how can someone say "I'm sure Kate and William" want to know the gender of the baby? Have you met them? Do you have any experience with their personalities?

I thought I had rosana on my ignore list? Hmm that's weird. Anyway how can someone say "I'm sure Kate and William" want to know the gender of the baby? Have you met them? Do you have any experience with their personalities?

Interesting that Tanna knew abut the pregnancy but the RF didn´t. It is always been very strange how this journalist has so much information on the Middletons, like Kate plying tennis on Christmas, as if someone were leaking info all the time. And he always knows beforehand where Pippa is going to be. Really classy.

Very interesting also that William seems to have little communication with his blood family to the point of not informing his father and the Queen that a heir was in the way. I wonder if the palace had handled the pregnancy from the beginning, so many "problems" would have been avoided.

You shouldn't believe everything you read on Royal Dish.

Kate and William had no intention of telling anyone this soon. They were waiting until the standard 12 weeks to inform their families. It's because Kate happened to be with her family when her morning sickness became much more serious that the Middletons were told first. I'm sure Carole and Michael had a pretty strong suspicion of what might be causing the sickness and seeing their daughter being unable to eat or drink will have caused them great concern.

If I started vomiting all day and all night I have no doubt my parents would be asking me what was going on. The fact Kate was rushed to hospital on the advice of her doctor would have made keeping the pregnancy secret almost impossible.

Even leopards get morning sickness? I saw an episode of Nature on PBS in which a leopard who was said to be expecting a baby was having morning sickness. Nature is odd.

I believe I heard years ago that when royals were expecting they "retired" from public view. That must have been a way back. They didn't talk about "expecting." If they said anything, they were "enceinte", a French word which was considered more polite.

Even leopards get morning sickness? I saw an episode of Nature on PBS in which a leopard who was said to be expecting a baby was having morning sickness. Nature is odd.

I believe I heard years ago that when royals were expecting they "retired" from public view. That must have been a way back. They didn't talk about "expecting." If they said anything, they were "enceinte", a French word which was considered more polite.

Even leopards get morning sickness? I saw an episode of Nature on PBS in which a leopard who was said to be expecting a baby was having morning sickness. Nature is odd.

I believe I heard years ago that when royals were expecting they "retired" from public view. That must have been a way back. They didn't talk about "expecting." If they said anything, they were "enceinte", a French word which was considered more polite.

Leopards!!! No freakin way; poor little kitties.
Also I believe all women were expected to retire if you were pregnant royal or not royal. It was also indelicate to mention a woman's "condition".

I've just posted on Kate's current events thread that BBC Radio 5 Live has confirmed that Kate will attend the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year show this evening which will be broadcast live on BBC1.

I think we can take from this that her health has improved significantly.